Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland have discussed bilateral relations and multilateral trade system during the recent phone talks, Chinese media reported.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th October, 2018) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland have discussed bilateral relations and multilateral trade system during the recent phone talks, Chinese media reported.
During the talks on Wednesday, Freeland stressed that the recently negotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) should not harm other countries and should not be exclusive, according to the Xinhua news agency. The Canadian minister also said that Canada was ready to support a multilateral system of trade with other countries and was not in favor of protectionism, the media outlet noted.
Freeland reportedly added that Canada wanted to enhance its partnership and cooperation with Beijing.
Wang, in turn, said that China had always supported the idea of having a multilateral system of trade as opposed to protectionism and double-standards in trade.
In late September, the United States, Canada and Mexico reached a new deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which had been in place for 24 years. While the deal has been negotiated, the three sides still have to sign it by the end of November and then submit it to their parliaments for approval. The new deal covers such areas as the intellectual property rights, the United States' access to the Canadian dairy market and automobile industry.
The agreement was reached amid deteriorating trade relations between Washington and Beijing, which had been imposing import tariffs on each other's products for months. The United States also sanctioned Beijing for cooperating with Russia in the defense sector and purchasing its aircraft and S-400 air defense systems.
